Hiking, especially in the environments of natural beauty and cultural significance, is a valuable form of free time activity, raising curiosity of the world, offering new encounters and promoting healthy lifestyle. Regrettably, such experience is shared by relatively small numbers of young people. We believe it makes sense to foster more interest in such activities. Young people’s engagement in the digital world can possibly provide a pathway to attract more young people to outdoor explorations as this is the area of almost universal appeal among youth. This overall project translates into more specific steps that aim to:- Organise workshops on aerial photography, filmmaking and digital mapping that take the participants from their screens to explorations of the countryside- Identify trails leading through sites of cultural and natural interest in the Carpathian ranges where we are based- Involve young participants in hiking together on selected trails and sharing the coverage of their expeditions through photos, films and illustrated maps- Facilitate intercultural encounters of the young participants across the partnership through online and onsite exchange- Build a wider youth network around shared interests in digital technology and hiking on the foundation laid during these first encounters- Distil the best workshop scenarios and approaches and present them in a publication that can encourage similar follow-up initiatives in other youth organisationsMain target groups- Young people: eager to learn new facets of digital technologies, interested in hiking, mountaineering and travelling, curious to meet peers in the neighbouring countries, also those young people needing encouragement and motivation to go beyond their usual walks of life towards more open, investigative, exploratory attitudes- Youth workers: organising learning and/or touristic activities for young people, seeking new ways to offer an attractive and valuable program of free-time activities, open to intercultural encounters in their youth work practiceActivities and outputs- Workshops introducing technologies for exploratory mountain hiking:Digital mapping. Participants will create online maps of selected trails and annotate/illustrate them. The maps will be uploaded to the project website to encourage similar trips by their peers and initiate discussions of experiences. Aerial photography. Participants will learn how to operate a drone and take photos/films from an aerial perspective. The best photos will be edited for publishing in online galleries and provide material for further edition into films.Mountain filmmaking. Participants will learn how to edit photos and clips into digital narratives giving deeper insights into their explorations. They will share their films online and at project events.- Each round of workshops will be connected with hiking trips in the Carpathian mountains in Poland, Slovakia and Romania to explore together places of particular interest: cultural and natural. The insights gathered on these trips (recorded trails, photos, video clips) will provide input to to the project social networking site linking the young hikers’ various interactions on Facebook and Instagram.- Experiences from the above activities will be presented in the main project publication that will be designed with a view to motivating other youth workers to follow our approaches.Outcomes/impact- For young participants: increased skills (intercultural, digital, artistic, social), a wider network of contacts and friends crossing national borders; increased knowledge of neighbouring countries; healthier lifestyles; more positive attitudes to out-of-school establishments open to their interests as well as European projects.- For youth workers/educators: more willingness to plan outdoor activities for young people with ambitious educational aims related to their authentic interests, curiosity and vitality; new opportunities for networked learning in a European dimension thus raising appreciation of EU projects.- For partner organisations: reinforced capacity for European cooperation bridging youth work, lifelong learning and tourism; integration/adaptation of new youth work methods from other contexts. - At systemic level: strengthened argumentation for opening traditional forms of youth work to more exploratory, intercultural ventures that can be organised with small financial support but have substantial impact on how young people perceive other countries and cultures. The project plans extensive dissemination to reach the expected impact beyond our own organisations and ensure further use of the results.